Arthur Olson

Arthur J. Olson is a Professor and Anderson Research Chair in the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at Scripps Research. His work focuses on computational methods for studying biomolecular interactions, including protein-substrate interactions in drug design, protein-protein recognition, and mesoscale modeling of cellular environments. He pioneered molecular visualization techniques and developed foundational software tools like AutoDock, AutoDock Vina, and CellPACK. His FightAIDS@Home project leverages distributed computing to combat HIV drug resistance.

Education: Ph.D. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley (1975). Postdoctoral training at Harvard University (1976-1979). Notable awards include the Anderson Research Endowment (1985), California State Legislature Honor (2006), and recognition as a Computer Graphics Pioneer (1999).

• Leads the Center for Computational Structural Biology (CCSB), successor to the Molecular Graphics Lab founded in 1981
• Developed visualization software for 3D printing and augmented reality applications
• Collaborates on whole-cell modeling projects, including the first complete Mycoplasma cell structural model

Research emphasizes HIV therapeutics, covalent inhibitor design, and integrating experimental data across scales. His lab's tools are used globally by tens of thousands of researchers.